A few words of introduction 

We often rely on a wide range of software for various aspects of our daily lives, including work, social interactions, and entertainment. New programs, digital tools, and website applications are constantly being introduced, while older, established software continues to be used or repurposed in new contexts. The abundance of software options does not necessarily mean that we are adept at choosing the best solution for our needs or understand how to use them effectively. It is an issue clearly visible in academia, as the Software Sustainability Institute report on the use of software in the social sciences has shown. Thus, it is the not surprising that selecting and successfully adopting new software for your research needs can sometimes feel like a complicated, stressful and daunting task.   

However, it does not have to be.  

If you are a researcher within the social sciences, there are resources available to help you, from the ones available through IT and Library services within your institution, up to online collaborative projects on teaching specific software skills. The SSI, with the financial support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), has created a programme to assist both established and early career researchers in developing their skills in research software. This programme consists of online events aimed at familiarising researchers with specific software used in the Social Sciences and teaching best software practices, to ensure that you will be both well-informed about necessary training, confident in the choices you have made, and able to support other researchers in their “digital struggles”. 

What do “research software” and “best practices” mean? 

For this project, we use a broad definition of what “research software” is, encompassing all programs, digital tools and network solutions that scholars can use to prepare and conduct research as well as share research results or even professionally network with other people. In short, by research software, we can understand an application specifically designed to perform e.g. statistical or visual manipulation work, a coding environment where each step of the work can be coded in and later executed to generate results, and even a secure communication application for interviews, hosting meetings and official online events. We will concentrate on teaching the usage of such software during the Autumn semester. 

In order to conduct meaningful research, simply having the right software isn't enough. It is important to understand how the software functions, what to look for or avoid when utilising in in one’s research, and finally have time to become proficient in using it. When we talk about "research software best practices", we are referring to the knowledge and skills needed to safely and effectively utilise the software. This includes ensuring that the software is reliable and maintainable, that the work follows reproducible steps, and that the software usage aligns with general legal requirements and specific software publishing policies. During the spring semester, we hope to arrange several talks and panel discussions, which will provide necessary knowledge on those topics. 

What do we plan in the upcoming months? 

For the Autumn semester, we are preparing four 1-day online workshops. The workshops aim to deliver a hands-on demonstration of how to utilise specific coding and software in research, with a brief showcase of each key step in a standard workflow – from importing data, through analysis and related work, to visualising and exporting results. This experience will be further supported by later blog posts and guides, explaining key steps in working with each software and where to search for further information to develop your skills. As the best way of learning is by doing, we will be hosting open hours in the days leading to the workshops, to support you in the installation of the required software on your laptop. 

The list of workshops is presented below. Each workshop will commence at approximately 10 am and will last, depending on the subject, between 2 to 4 hours. 

• Relational Databases: SQL for Social Scientists (Tuesday 15 October) 
• Reproducible Analysis: R for Social Scientists (Tuesday 22 October)
• Beyond the Spreadsheet: Data Cleanup with OpenRefine (Early November) 
• Reproducible Analysis: Python for Social Scientists (Mid November) 

The registration process will be managed through Eventbrite. All events will be hosted online through the Zoom app. 

For those who will attend one or more workshops, we also plan to run an experimental series of 1 on 1 mentoring meetings. It may be an opportunity especially for students and early career researchers from smaller institutions to have access to experienced researchers and the ability to discuss issues of their choosing. We will start registrations after running the first workshop in October. Mentoring meetings would take place in November and early December. 

See you all soon! 

For updates on planned workshops and other events, please check our official project page and follow the SSI on LinkedIn, X, and Mastodon.